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Which TB3 dock for your 15MBP?
- Thread starter richpjr
- Start date
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I know it's not a real dock, but in Germany we can get those from Amazon: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01MSHSXLV...olid=1080NPGWPAFVI&coliid=IE4C85FHO3LJU&psc=1
Looks pretty nice and very portable, but not sure about the quality of this thing. Anyone here ever used something like that?
Looks pretty nice and very portable, but not sure about the quality of this thing. Anyone here ever used something like that?
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I ordered this thing together with my 15" tMBP: https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B01MZ0HFDG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It is one of the rare hubs that seem to be portable and at the same time offer Ethernet and HDMI. I hope it works flawlessly and offers acceptable quality...
It is one of the rare hubs that seem to be portable and at the same time offer Ethernet and HDMI. I hope it works flawlessly and offers acceptable quality...
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Please let me know how you like it. I've read reviews and have not made up my mind. My wife got me this Stitch sticker and now I need a system to put it on. Not going to put this on an aging Macbook Pro 17" from about 2007 or so so that may mean a new TB3MP
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The caldigit dock looks good spec wise but the design of it is quite horrible.
Just about all of the TB docks use hardware that is natively supported by macOS so they do not require additional drivers. The USB-only docks that also use USB-C are a different story, those do require a driver for the network card which would be the official one from the network card manufacturer (mostly Realtek).
The only driver CalDigit offers for their Thunderbolt and USB docking stations offers both the higher charging required for the iPad and support for the Apple SuperDrive. This driver works fine and isn't a requirement for the dock to work.
I ordered the CalDigit Thunderbolt Station 3 plus a 2 meter TB3 cable. This including the shipment costs less than what I have to pay for the OWC or the Belkin dock and the others are hard to get. CalDigit docks are also one of the best in terms of quality.
Mount it somewhere out of sight, behind your display for instance.
Is there a dock coming out that would allow me to plug my 2 LG 4k ultrafines into the dock and then just have a single cable coming to the macbook.
All the ones I have seen have only got 2 thunderbolt 3 usb-c ports. One input from the laptop and the other for a monitor etc. I know that you can't have 1 thunderbolt 3 usb-c from the laptop split into 2 or more but there is no reason there couldn't be some non thunderbolt 3 usb-c ports.
All the ones I have seen have only got 2 thunderbolt 3 usb-c ports. One input from the laptop and the other for a monitor etc. I know that you can't have 1 thunderbolt 3 usb-c from the laptop split into 2 or more but there is no reason there couldn't be some non thunderbolt 3 usb-c ports.
I used this thing for two hours now and I will return it. HDMI connection is not working, I have to reconnect when I wake the computer up and it looses connection randomly.
I will go for the Apple HDMI adapter and a separate Ethernet adapter from Belkin, which I expect to work fine...
Edit: Maybe I was a bit rash this morning, because the rest of the day it worked fine. Strange. I will give it another 1-2 days and see how it behaves...
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Caldigit is shipping their first TB3 dock from Jan. you can purchase now and get it right away.
http://www.caldigit.com/Purchase.asp
The downside is this TS3 Lite is a "lite" version that charges 15W to the laptop vs Belkin's 85W and OWC's 60W.
If you want 85W, you need to wait for the full version from Caldigit, which is TS3, or Belkin's.
Well, I do search for a USB-c hub that makes one USB-c to three or more.
I have change all of my cables but I need more connections.
I have change all of my cables but I need more connections.
Mildly annoyed that its been almost 5 months and no decent TB3 docks have been released yet. My Thunderbolt Display has been having issues, and none of the ports work on it, and I don't want to buy a several dongles for all my devices.
I hope we start seeing some docks from this month, as promised by OWC, etc. Its fine if they delay them a bit but they need to be reliable.
I ended up pre-ordering the OWC dock and received an email a few days ago saying some pre-orders will ship this month and some not until April. Ugh.
That one does look pretty good, but I don't need the firewire or optical audio ports. Between that one or the Henge docks horizontal dock, but Henge does not have a release date.
Made me laugh!
I feel your pain man
Owner of two, 15" top shelf CTOs - both with different, now exceeded (& somewhat less proprietary. Nah, it's significantly more 'open') speeds
2012 15" 2.7/16/768 TB1 x2 (I spent a year waiting for a somewhat reliable solution) and my
2015 15" 2.8/16/1TB w/TB2 x2 (faster, but more docks? Options? Reliability? Nope)
Count your blessings. The loudest complaint is almost the most ignorant. The latest design features the fastest, most ubiquitous and supported by the largest silicon OEMs... high speed, future I/O! you'll be fine sooner than later. The new Windows laptops are finally starting to include 'one'.
Two, three years from now USB A's going to be today's VGA/DVI video carrying, minus the audio Ports. I'd be pissed had I spent the dough today on the guaranteed obsolescence of so many not cheap designs
Mock Apple all you want. There's a dongle or adapter available for next to nothing. Most will need only one or two. Not the bag full many like to spew. Dongles today for convenience tomorrow and future proof for the day after makes more sense than every other design available on today's 'other' OS's OEMs' designs.
And they're wild and continued fascination of an aging and 'on its way out' adapter. Like USB 1.1, USB 2 - USB 3-->TB3 speeds are spectacular. We won't be going backwards
Just another feather in the 'when it comes to replacement:30' and the continued price of PreOwned Apple computers continues its relevance in the buying decision
The Surfaces still have seriously annoying issues and aren't as capable as a computer like the current MBP lineup, nor as reliable and portable with as deep a library of apps as iOS and the iPad. We continue living in a two (3? W/phone) device world where 'we' have become the minority - needing to own a lap or desktop as current and quick as today's machines...and what most've done 'on their computers' in past decades can now be done easier, more efficiently and more of the time w/cellular connections than they ever were able to on yesterday's 'home computer'. Email, surfing, consuming and social, photo and video management, media management itself and all encompassing!
The computers' need and its need for replacement have both dropped and the CPU's long dominance as the performance king's been supplanted by SSDs and M.2 & PCIe SSDs! They drop the value boost or a CPU to Intel's knees!
Lol,
Point I'm making, your new rigs are sick. I'm going to wait but only because I own a fairly current model.
I'm also happy as hell with my 2012 original rMBP, & obviously love the hell outta my '15 15" w/unbelievably fast storage R/W speeds, killer trackpad technology, capable and efficient processing and spectacular display.
Unmatched as well across the street (Windows 10) when it comes to scaling and third party app support - while macOS just looks awesome!
The last four years of rMBPs are awesome computers, whether the 2012--2013 or last year's model
But the new ones? They're killer laptops
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I agree with you, I have "upgraded" all of my cables to USB-C -> xxx but I can't find any USB-C Hub so I can attach all of my devices at once and only use one cable to the MBP.
I would say that's the wrong direction. There's more support for 4k @ 60hz via Displayport than there is via HDMI. Honestly, I wish HDMI would go away and have every monitor/tv adopt DisplayPort via USB-C.
A quick analysis post, so we can see each models ports, options, and plus/minus points. All in one place.
(NB: only Thunderbolt 3 docks here, and not USB-C docks!)
AFAICS, I think I've covered most points, but please do post if you see any omission or salient fact I should mention.
See my post at #52 for PICTURES of docks #1–8 on one page.
See my post at #86 for TEXT+PICTURES of additional docks #9+10 (2x Henge).
...............................
EDIT 1 (06.Mar.2017): dims+weights added (most are still unavailable, though), + Plugable docks added.
EDIT 2 (06.Mar.2017): Lenovo dock added.
EDIT 3 (17.Mar.2017): additional 2x Henge docks link (#86) added.
EDIT 4 (19.Mar.2017): OWC uses a USB-A to eSATA adaptor, rather than a built-in port.
____________________
I have quickly done this, but things needed to check are:
• port limitations: e.g's HDMI 1.4b though DP? / charging capabilities on USB ports / device power maximums (15W?) / TB3 output port supports full 10Gbps USB-C too / other??
• other; if you have something??
Thanks!
[doublepost=1488777708][/doublepost]
- OWC has: SD cardreader (useful for many, but likely only one size of card?? so you may need a separate reader anyway) + FW800 (legacy use, really, but some audio devices still use this) + digital audio out (again, many audio devices use or benefit from digital audio) + five USB-A's [or changing one to an e-sata] (5 USB-A's is good, depending on performance).
The only negative I can see is it only has the dual analog audio in+out port, rather than separate ones (how important is this likely to be, though??).
- Caldigit has: vertical or horizontal design (could be useful in certain situations for some users), e-sata 6gbps x2 (dunno how useful this is over USB-A 5gbps ...anyone?), and has separate analog audio in+out (good for separate mic at same time as using phones/speakers). Along with those positives, it clearly supports SuperDrive use too (the others don't make clear!).
DisplayPort thoughts...
OWC has Mini-DP vs. Caldigit fullsize-DP –> any difference to usage??
I suppose if you have a mini-DP display (like Apple's original 27" CINEMA Display) the OWC might be easier. But then most non-Apple displays have fullsize DP, so that might be better. DP-to-mDP and mDP-to-DP adaptors exist though, so AFAICT this would be down to personal preference rather than anything technical.
Caldigit "Lite" offers an additional plain USB-C for charging & data use, but it's only gen.1 5gbps anyway, and super cheap USB-A-to-USB-C adaptors are everywhere, so can't see the massive point, to be honest.
Lenovo has loads of ports, both for displays (DP x2, HDMI, and VGA!) and USB-A (x5), but looks to have limited availability outside US, and especially only good for 13" as power is 65w max.
Thoughts...?
(NB: only Thunderbolt 3 docks here, and not USB-C docks!)
AFAICS, I think I've covered most points, but please do post if you see any omission or salient fact I should mention.
See my post at #52 for PICTURES of docks #1–8 on one page.
See my post at #86 for TEXT+PICTURES of additional docks #9+10 (2x Henge).
...............................
____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________
EDIT 1 (06.Mar.2017): dims+weights added (most are still unavailable, though), + Plugable docks added.
EDIT 2 (06.Mar.2017): Lenovo dock added.
EDIT 3 (17.Mar.2017): additional 2x Henge docks link (#86) added.
EDIT 4 (19.Mar.2017): OWC uses a USB-A to eSATA adaptor, rather than a built-in port.
____________________
I have quickly done this, but things needed to check are:
• port limitations: e.g's HDMI 1.4b though DP? / charging capabilities on USB ports / device power maximums (15W?) / TB3 output port supports full 10Gbps USB-C too / other??
• other; if you have something??
Thanks!
[doublepost=1488777708][/doublepost]
....THOUGHTS....
IMO, the two interesting ones are the OWC and the Caldigit "Thunderbolt 3 Station". AFAICT the others offer less yet try to ask the same money, rather cheekily!- OWC has: SD cardreader (useful for many, but likely only one size of card?? so you may need a separate reader anyway) + FW800 (legacy use, really, but some audio devices still use this) + digital audio out (again, many audio devices use or benefit from digital audio) + five USB-A's [or changing one to an e-sata] (5 USB-A's is good, depending on performance).
The only negative I can see is it only has the dual analog audio in+out port, rather than separate ones (how important is this likely to be, though??).
- Caldigit has: vertical or horizontal design (could be useful in certain situations for some users), e-sata 6gbps x2 (dunno how useful this is over USB-A 5gbps ...anyone?), and has separate analog audio in+out (good for separate mic at same time as using phones/speakers). Along with those positives, it clearly supports SuperDrive use too (the others don't make clear!).
DisplayPort thoughts...
OWC has Mini-DP vs. Caldigit fullsize-DP –> any difference to usage??
I suppose if you have a mini-DP display (like Apple's original 27" CINEMA Display) the OWC might be easier. But then most non-Apple displays have fullsize DP, so that might be better. DP-to-mDP and mDP-to-DP adaptors exist though, so AFAICT this would be down to personal preference rather than anything technical.
Caldigit "Lite" offers an additional plain USB-C for charging & data use, but it's only gen.1 5gbps anyway, and super cheap USB-A-to-USB-C adaptors are everywhere, so can't see the massive point, to be honest.
Lenovo has loads of ports, both for displays (DP x2, HDMI, and VGA!) and USB-A (x5), but looks to have limited availability outside US, and especially only good for 13" as power is 65w max.
Thoughts...?
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